Addressing a large gathering of supporters from a specially-constructed wooden platform with a large replica of the Parliament in the backdrop, UP Chief Minister Mayawati used B R Ambedkar’s 117th birth anniversary celebrations at Bhim Nagari in Kotli Bagichi here to remind the audience that political power was the only key to Dalit empowerment. She said the Constitutional rights conferred on the Dalits and the poor were a gift of Ambedkar and not of anyone from the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The replicas of India Gate and Parliament were symbolic of her attempt to march to the Centre in the next Lok Sabha polls. Training her guns on the Congress — the other ‘national’ claimant to the Dalit votes — Mayawati said in Congress-ruled Maharashtra, Dalits were unable to lead a life of dignity. To prove her point, she cited Sunday’s incident where Dalits at a village in Satara district were prevented from going to a community hall to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti.

“The administration did precious little despite complaints, forcing the Dalits to threaten mass suicide. How can a district magistrate dare not respond to people’s complaint, unless the state Government deliberately dissuades him from taking action? It is the Congress Government that was responsible for the said inaction against the Dalits’ complaints,” Mayawati said.

Though she also attacked both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party as the BSP’s opponents, the attack on the Congress was particularly shrill. She again attacked Rahul Gandhi and repeated that after his much-publicised visits to Dalit homes, he took bath with special soap and underwent “shuddhi” ceremony. She said the opponents were raising a question mark on the expense incurred in the construction of the Ambedkar memorial in Lucknow despite the fact that rival parties had spent thousands of crores on memorials, museums and libraries in the memory of their leaders. In this context, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said if any opposition party challenged Ambedkar’s honour in court, he would himself fight the case.

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